Toploader

If you tuned into the episode of Felicity that ended with a cover version of King Harvest's "Dancing In The Moonlight," chances are you know of Toploader. Britain's latest inexplicably successful export, Toploader is a band that have the ability to make the listener both cringe and dance within one listen of their debut album. To be frank, Onka's Big Moka is as bad its title. Their music is free-spirited soul rock with sounds stolen from visionaries like Stevie Wonder and Paul Weller. "Do You Know What Your Future Will Be?" at best is the sound of a poor man's Black Crowes, as is "High Flying Bird." "Just Hold On" and "Breathe" sounds influenced by the last Hanson record, which of course is bad, considering these guys are a decade or so older. As you get to the end of the album, which closes with the aurally painful "Floating Away (In A Bath Tub)," all you want to do is play "Dancing In The Moonlight" again and again. Never has an album relied so heavily on one song, ever. And it's a shame that "Dancing In The Moonlight" is so catchy because you will hate yourself for liking a song by a band that is so dreadfully unoriginal.